Wrestling: Mattituck freshman advances to semis of state tourney

Mattituck freshman Jack Bokina wrestles Kevin Velez of Petrides in the first round of the 99-pound New York State Championship. (Credit: Paul Wager)

It didn’t take long for Jack Bokina to cement his legacy in Mattituck’s wrestling history. The freshman, wrestling 99 pounds, won his first two matches Friday to guarantee himself an all-state finish on the first day of the New York State Championships in Albany.

Bokina, in his second year wrestling at states, now has a chance to go where no Mattituck wrestler has gone before: the state finals.

Bokina will wrestle Saturday morning in the semifinals for a chance to compete in the state finals later that night. Even with a loss, Bokina would be guaranteed at least a top-six finish, which would make him only the second wrestler in program history to earn all-state honors.

Bokina was one of four wrestler for Mattituck to reach the state tournament. He was the only wrestler to advance unscathed out of day one.

He opened the tournament with a quick pin of Kevin Velez, a sophomore from Petrides. Bokina pinned him in 1 minute 38 seconds.

In his quarterfinal matchup, Bokina won an 8-3 decision over Dillan Palaszewski of Galway. Bokina got stronger as the match went on and he will now face freshman Orion Anderson of Schuylerville in Saturday morning’s semifinal, which starts at 10 a.m.

The only all-state finisher in Mattituck’s history was Louis Troisi in 2007. He finished third.

The Tuckers’ three other wrestlers all lost their first round matches at Times Union Center and their seasons came to an end. Sophomore James Hoeg lost a 5-3 decision to Connor Lawrence of Duanesburg wrestling at 160. Hoeg bounced back to beat Shawn Mosca of Carle Place/Wheatley with a 10-1 major decision. In his next wrestleback, he was pinned in the first period by Will Marcil of Saranac.

Senior Adam Goode lost a 7-4 decision in his opening match at 195 against Ricardo Dawkins of General Brown. He won his next match in the wrestlebacks, 5-3, but his career came to an end with a second-period pin at the hands of Riley Hanrahan.

Sophomore Tanner Zagarino went 0-2 wrestling at 170 and his season came to an end.

Click below to read the live blog from the first day of the tournament: